Osama bin Laden, the man accused of masterminding the US terror attacks, was today urged to leave Afghanistan by Islamic clerics meeting in Kabul, the Taliban news agency reported.

'The Ulema wants the Islamic emirate of Afghanistan to encourage Osama to leave Afghanistan, but of his own free will,' the Bakhtar news agency said, referring to the council of hundreds of clerics which has been meeting for two days to decide the renegade Saudi millionaire's future.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, who called the meeting of the clerics, are likely to follow its direction, but it was uncertain whether bin Laden, the key suspect for the terrorist attacks in the United States, would be prepared to leave Afghanistan, where he has had sanctuary since 1996.

Yesterday, Mullah Mohammed Omar, the leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement, said it was willing to meet with US officials but also accused Washington of unfairly vilifying bin Laden.

The council of clerics, which began meeting yesterday in the Presidential Palace, moved to the hotel, another heavily damaged building in the war-shattered capital, to continue its talks today.

The decision was taken as massive US forces were heading to the region for the opening salvo of Operation Infinite Justice - President Bush's promised war on terrorism.

In a speech read at the opening of the gathering yesterday, Taliban leader Omar denounced Washington's portrayal of bin Laden's alleged role in the suicide attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, and its refusal to produce evidence. He called the US actions an effort to harm the Taliban. 'Osama has denied his involvement. It is unfortunate that America does not listen to us and levels all sorts of charges and threatens military action,' Omar said in the speech.

'We have held talks in the past with US governments several times, and we are ready for more talks,' he said.

But he said: 'If America still wants to attack us ... and to destroy the Islamic government of Afghanistan, we want to get the religious decision from you, our respected religious scholars.'

The Bush administration rejected the Taliban offer for talks. 'The president has made it clear it's time for actions not negotiations with the Taliban,' said White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.

Omar, who is believed to have final decision-making power, did not attend the clerics' meetings, remaining at the Taliban headquarters in Kandahar.

Bin Laden, who has been living in Afghanistan under its protection since 1996, has been accused of masterminding several terrorist attacks around the world, including the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in East Africa in which 231 people were killed.

Taliban, an Islamic militia that rules most of the country, is only formally recognized by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The militia has been put under economic sanctions twice by the United Nations to press earlier US demands to hand over bin Laden for trial.

The Taliban, which condemned last week's terror attacks in the United States, have consistently refused to extradite bin Laden, calling him a 'guest' and saying that to hand him over to non-Muslims would betray a tenet of Islam.